I could have been a writer, a professional athlete, a musician, a doctor, an actor, a chef, a business owner, a scientist, a teacher…
If only I had paid more attention, trained a little harder, been more confident, pursued my passion, been more patient, made a different choice when…, been more disciplined, had more time…
There is value in possibility. We all know there is. We trade in it like currency. We spend time to gain education and skills so that we can become something more than we are now. We give cash, the currency of the land, and time, the currency of all our lives to increase our possibility.
Most adults would risk their lives for children, perhaps because somewhere in our hearts we understand that a five-year-old is a possibility, while we by fifty are more settled and less likely to venture into uncharted territory in pursuit of greatness and achievement. We hold sometimes too long to that state of childhood, afraid to pick a direction and march with all we have toward a goal, because we might fail. Better, we think to have possibility of becoming later, than to fail now.
But we don’t always have tomorrow. We have fewer tomorrows than most people imagine, and life fills up more todays with minutia than we want.
If you wait you may find yourself late in your days, saying “I could have been… if only I had…”
Will one of those things you say be, “If only I had gotten started?”
Or you can start today. One small step, one action at a time, to become more than you are. Trade in possibility for reality. Spend that time, spend that effort to become. When your last days come it will be far better to say “I strived for…” or “I was good at…” instead of saying I could have been, because you feared not being the best.
Possibility will not buy you satisfaction. Effort will. Action will.
Go. Try. Be, “I was…” not, “I could have been.”
Comentarios